


Percy Jackson-Reading the books

by Pizza_Mia



Series: Movie Remedy For The Weary [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Angst, Characters read the book, F/M, Fluff, Jiper, M/M, Reading the Books, Time Travel, frazel - Freeform, minor injury, percabeth
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-11
Updated: 2020-03-17
Packaged: 2020-10-14 14:15:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20602151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pizza_Mia/pseuds/Pizza_Mia
Summary: Yup! Another reading the book, Percy Jackson fic! Enjoy, leave kudos, comments and tell me what you think. Suggestion will be greatly appreciated!





	1. The Fates

It was dark outside; the barest flickers of pale light was quick to be swallowed up by the steadily creeping shadows. Oh, and it was quiet too. The forest surrounding the small cave - their home- was utterly devoid of any sound. There were no birds chirping, no plants rustling in the wind, nor was there any sign of life at all (except for the inhabitants of that cave, of course). It was, all in all, peaceful in an eerie sort of way.

It was also exactly the way that Clotho liked it.

The quiet itself was like a song to her, an invisible harmony that hang heavily in the air. Yes, it was beautiful music, ominous and tragic all the same.

At least, it was way better than the trash that her sister so enjoyed. Popping rocks, mortals called it, or something like that.

She cursed the day that Perseus Jackson had decided to give Christmas gifts to everyone. For some reason, he had included the Fates and that bothered her. Besides the fact that he had decided to 'modernise' them with some nonsense that the Valdez boy had crafted. Monster-proof 'Apple' products that sadly, was not edible as she found out the hard way.

Actually, she was still figuring what her gift was.

Lachesis and Atropos had already finished theirs and it was a living nightmare. Thanks to the Jackson boy, Lachesis was seriously addicted to listening to 'popping rocks' on spotfey and Atropos spent all her free time sobbing over serial drama.

What had their life become. All thanks to Jackson and that Inside-Net.

Being a Fate sucked. Sure they could totally screw up people's lives, but after the first few centuries or so, it got boring. It was always the same drill. Hero = tragic suffering and Job = done.

They weren't even being payed.

Clotho was in the middle of washing the shared laundry when the idea hit her. (Yes, even gods / beings /creatures /naiads /harpies had to change clothes sometimes).

The idea was so evil, yet so perfect. It would also serve as the perfect payback. Plus, Clotho was getting seriously bored. It's been quite sometime before she and her sisters could ruin a hero's life properly.

Clotho told her sisters of the plan that night, over a pleasant meal of nectar, ambrosia and burnt chicken in the form of smoke. Their conversation went something like this:

"That is a terrible idea." That was Lachesis.

"It would totally ruin the natural order of things," Atropos added, nervously.

"Chaos would be pissed and ground us again..." She agreed.

They paused, thinking for a quick second.

"Let's do it."  
"Hades, yeah."  
"YOLO, right?"


	2. The Summoning

**Mt Olympus, Empire State Building**   
**Year: 2007**

Her siblings were idiots.

To her, it seemed that nowadays, Hestia had to spend hours and hours on end listening to stupid arguments and mindless babbling from the so-called adults in the room. It was infuriating, really. Why? Well, here's a snippet of conversation of an ordinary day at Mt Olympus:

"STOP CHEATING ON ME!!!" That was always Hera.

"ARES, STAY AWAY FROM MY WIFE!"

"I SENSE A LOVE TRIANGLE! SQUEAL!"

"Hades, you need to eat more CEREAL!"

"ENOUGH WITH THE CEREAL, WOMAN!"

It seemed that these days, gods and goddesses could only speak one volume: extremely loud. This was honestly enough to give anyone a headache. The only person present here that was remotely sensible was, surprisingly Poseidon, who didn't really join in the arguments.

Well, unless he was at war with Athena. Then, he was an utter idiot.

Today, though, seemed much worse. Maybe it was the fact that Athena and Aphrodite were at each other's throats or maybe it was because that Ares and Hephaestus were wrestling on the ground or even, maybe it was the fact that all her three brothers were having yet another _hissy fit _about whether potato was pronounce 'poh-tah-toh' or 'po-ta-toe'.

Whatever the reason, it was grating on Hestia's nerves. A lot.

It is said that a wise person fears three things: the ocean in the storm, the moonless night and the fury of a gentle soul. Well, the bickering Olympians were all going to experience the last one. You see, Hestia was a very gentle, patient person. However, even she had a limit, as they were going to find out the hard way.

She finally saw red when Artemis launched herself off the throne and tackled her twin to the ground, screeching profanities and death threats.

Whatever the reason, Hestia finally snapped.

"EVERYONE SHUT UP!" she roared, "OR I WILL PERSONALLY DEFENESTRATE THE NEXT PERSON WHO MAKES ANOTHER SOUND!"

Everyone froze, utterly stunned into silence as they gaped at her.

Like she said: idiots, all of them.

Hestia groaned, rubbing her head. "Ares and Hephaestus," she barked, pointing at the two paled-faced gods. "Get up. Sit."

They meekly did as she ordered without protest.

"You three," she turned her attention to the squirming Big Three Idiots. "Just... shut up about potatoes."

They nodded eagerly, obviously relieved to have gotten off easily.

"Now," Hestia settled backwards, "We play the silence game. Loser gets tossed out the window."

There was an awkward pause for about five minutes. Then, a portal - yes, a swirling black portal! - appeared. Multiple figures dropped out of the portal, crashing heavily onto the marbled floor in a pile of flailing limbs and hissed curses.

The portal disappeared. The people that it had deposited, however, did not.

Hestia silently groaned, feeling her headache worsen. Yup, this was just another day at Mt Olympus.

———- ———  
Percy groaned, rubbing his head gingerly as he stood up on unsteady feet. Where...? He vaguely remembered something about chasing Leo after the dude had stolen his blue cupcakes... and then... a huge big black thingy appeared and swallowed him up?

Yeah, he was pretty sure that was what had happened.

Ughhh. He felt as if someone had reached in, twisted all his organs inside out and then shook him up and down like a salt shaker. Up and down and up and down and up and down and... wait a minute.

He recognised this room. This was obviously the old throne room for Mt Olympus. But wait, hadn't it been destroyed in the First Great War, the one against Kronos?

Annabeth had redesigned it, he remembered that she had been so proud at being the official architect of Mt Olympus. Annabeth...?

Percy shot to his feet, swallowing down the nausea that he felt. He glanced wildly around the room, looking for his beautiful Annabeth. He did not see her, not at first. However, what did he see, was the gods. They were utterly silent, their godly bottoms firmly attached to their respective thrones, an odd mixture of fear, suspicion and confusion clearly etched on their faces.

Except for Artemis, for some reason. Percy vaguely remembered the reason as being that the goddess was a master at keeping a poker face.

Why weren't they yelling at him, though? Or even screeching at each other? Or turning Percy into demigod goo on the floor?

Maybe not the last one. He was the two-time saviour of Olympus after all.

"Hey, guys!" He smirked at them.

No objections, no angry "...have some respect!..." or "I'll crush you, punk!" (The last one was Ares, obviously)

O-kay.

A groan behind him made him turn around, his hand instinctively reaching into his pocket for Riptide. His hand fell away though, as soon as he saw who it was.

"Guys!"

He ran towards the pile of demigods, helping each one to their feet. "Hey, Leo!" "Hi, Will!" "Jason, bro!" "Frank, my man!" "Nico, you're here too!"

"Annabeth!" Percy gave his Wisegirl a quick hug.

The happy reunion lasted one second. "Move aside, punk," Clarissa shoved past him.

"Oh yay, she's here too."

It took roughly two seconds for Annabeth to take in their surroundings. It also took her a split-second to declare her verdict. "Time-travel!" She gasped, bringing her hands to her mouth.

Percy frowned. Must be the Fates's fault again. Oh well, dam them for screwing up his weekend again.

As Thomas Jefferson would put it, life sucked. Or at least Percy vaguely remembered the dude saying something like that.

There was a very awkward silence, everyone just staring at each other. That's when it hit him. Everyone was too silent. The Olympians were all still silent. Percy's jaw dropped.

"Oh. My. Gods." He gasped, "The world is gonna end."

"What are you talking about?" Piper asked tiredly, coming up to stand beside the him.

"They're not yelling at each other!" Percy wheezed, growing more and more agitated by each passing second. "We're gonna die! I don't wanna be Nico's permanent houseguest yet! I'm too cool to die!"

"Is he always like that?" Will whispered to Nico.

"Constantly," The child of Hades replied, rolling his eyes. "What did you expect? It's Percy."

"Or," an amused voice came from behind them, "They took my threat of defenestration very seriously indeed."

All the demigods collectively whirled around, just in time to see Hestia step out and - holy schist! - was that an _unholy_ gleam in her eyes?

"Good for them," she nodded approvingly, "Or I would've already chucked them out the window."

———- ———-  
"Aunt Hestia!" Percy practically tackled the goddess into a hug. "I missed you!"

He felt Hestia stiffen slightly before awkwardly patting his back. "Do I know you?"

Percy stared at her, aghast. "It's me, your favourite nephew!" Wait a second... he paused, remembering Annabeth's earlier words.

He slapped his hand over his face and groaned. "I'm such an idiot!"

"Like we didn't know that already, prissy." Clarissa snorted.

Percy ignored her. "So, what year is it?" He asked.

"2000," Hestia replied, "And you're from...?"

"2010," Percy replied cheerfully, "You seem to be taking this surprisingly well, Aunt H."

"Try living for centuries with these people," She snorted, gesturing to the still silent audience of Olympians.

In that moment, Annabeth decided to take it upon herself to intervene. She knew perfectly well from experience how long these aunty-nephew bonding talks between the two usually went. "Lady Hestia," she said respectfully, taking a step forward, "We request an audience with the Olympians."

"And my dad." Nico grumbled.

"Lord Hades too."

Hestia thought for a moment. "Alright," she said, coming to a decision. She turned to face the gods. "You can speak now."

The room exploded into chaos, an utter babble of confused, irritated and threatening voices speaking all at once.

"WHO ARE YOU?" Zeus thundered, already raising his lightning bolt.

"TIME-TRAVEL IS NOT HYPOTHETICALLY POSSIBLE!" Athena screeched.

"I WANNA BASH THEIR SKULLS IN!"

"And there's the gods we all know and despise," Percy sighed happily, "You know, for a horrible minute, I really thought the world was ending!"

"PUNKS, I'LL KILL YOU AND BOIL YOUR BONES AND-"

"Shut up, father!" Clarissa roared, hand tightening on her spear.

Everyone froze. Percy and the rest of the demigods stared at Clarissa at amazement and an unhealthy amount of respect, which is to say, a lot. The gods were gaping too. Ares was too stunned to reply.

"Your demigods." Athena finally spoke after a long pause.

"Duh." Percy raised an eyebrow. "What gave it away?"

Athena scowled. "Why are you here?

"The Fates hate me. Either that or they were bored." Percy shrugged.

The Goddess of Wisdom was about to snap back a retort, when yet another portal appeared in front of them. This time, however, it didn't bring more people. Rather, a huge red brick flew out of the portal, landing smack straight into poor Jason's face.

"OW!"

Clasping his now-bleeding nose with one hand, he picked up the evil brick. "There's a note." His voice came out high and nasal.

Percy burst into laughter. "Bro!" He wheezed, "You sounds like you inhaled chipmunks and helium together!"

Jason glared, but went ahead anyway, unwrapping the note from the stupid brick.

**Dear gods and goddesses,**

**This is a message from the Fates. We have sent this group of demigods, plus one satyr, into the past. Why? Because we can.**

**Your task is to read these books, spend some quality bonding time together and get your godly asses off the thrones. Demigods, introduce yourselves and state your godly parentage and titles.**

**Not you, Perseus. We want to see the gods reactions. No spoilers, boy!**

**Ps. Whatever that is read will be experienced by the said demigod. Don't worry, no one will ACTUALLY die. Hehe. **

**Also, we will send more people there if we want.**

**Hugs and kisses,   
The Fates**

"What books...?" Frank started, glancing around. In answer, a pile of books dropped from the ceiling, falling straight into Poseidon's lap.

The sea god picked up the books. "There's a lot of them," He said uncertainly, glancing at the titles.

"Percy Jackson and the Olympians," He read aloud, "...and The Heroes of Olympus."


	3. Who are you?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Introductions, guys!

"So, I guess it's introductions first." The ragtag group of time-travellers glanced at each other and sighed. Nearly a quarter of their small group wasn't technically supposed to exist at all, due to that no-children vow.

Percy grimaced; Zeus was gonna take this well. Not at all.

"I bet five drachmas that Zeus would get his toga in a twist." Jason whispered to Reyna. The praetor agreed silently.

Annabeth went first, stepping forward and bowing. "Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena and Architect of Olympus."

A small smile spread across Athena's face. All the other gods glanced at her. The goddess of wisdom was about to gesture for the others to go on, but something stopped her. "Wait." It took her a few seconds to realise what was wrong with her - future? - daughter's statement. "Something happened to Olympus."

It was a statement, not a question. Her daughter nodded grimly. This was... mildly alarming. Athena supposed that she would have to see where this went with the books. She nodded at the group to continue the introductions.

The Cherokee one went next. "Piper McLean, daughter of Aphrodite, wielder of Katoptris and one of the Seven."

Unsurprisingly, Aphrodite squealed. Before Piper knew it, she was covered in pink sparkles, her camp clothes transforming into a stunning blue dress.

"Mother!" She screeched, hand instantly bringing up her dagger and waving it threateningly in the air.

"Fine." Aphrodite grumbled, changing her daughter's clothes back. "You look so pretty in that dress," the goddess said dreamily.

The goddess of love also didn't miss the look of pure adoration and love from that blonde boy in the purple shirt.

The blonde in question next. "Jason Grace, son of Jupiter, Praetor of New Rome and also one of the Seven."

A hushed silence fell over the throne room. Everyone gasped at the king of gods in shock. To break the vow was a very serious thing, it could not be taken lightly. Zeus's face whitened as he realised the implications of that statement. Hera burned with rage. She was about to scream at Zeus but Hades, surprisingly, beat her to it.

"Zeus." Hades's voice was dangerously low, giving Hera pause. The Kind of Gods shrank in his seat, paler than he had every been in his immortal life.

"You broke the oath," Hades continued, his voice trembling with emotion, "And still killed my Maria even though I didn't break the oath."

The other gods who didn't know this, gasped in shock. The God of the Underworld stood up, shadows growing around him as his eyes grew more and more terrifying. "You tried to kill MY CHILDREN!" He walked threateningly towards his brother's throne, bringing his face right up to the white-faced Zeus. "But. You. Broke. The. Oath." The words were softly spoken but that somehow made it worse and all the more scarier.

By this point, Nico di Angelo was absolutely sure that father was gonna destroy Zeus. He had never seen his father so... cold and furious at the same time before. He knew he had to intervene before things got worse. "Father, stop!" He called out, running forward and wrapping the shadows around him protectively.

Hades turned around at those words. At the same time, Nico barrelled into his father, wrapping him into a hug. "I'm here, dad." Nico whispered, feeling his throat tighten.

"Nico?" His dad asked and stopped resisting in shock.

"It's me, dad."

Before Nico knew it, his father was crying and hugging him. He... also pretty much picked up Nico and carried him to one side of the throne room. Far away from Zeus, the man who had single-handedly ruined both their lives.

"My son." The god of the Underworld clasped his son's face in his hands. "My beautiful boy."

Nico's chest ached strangely. His dad... loved him this much? Future dad wasn't this affectionate at all. All of a sudden, he felt like that small kid, playing in his old apartment with mother and Bianca. It took him some time to realise what that feeling was. He felt safe, for the first time in his post-Bianca life.

"Where's Bianca?" It was only a matter of time before his dad asked that question, and Nico knew it. It still hurt to say, "She's gone dad." It stung to see his dad's face crumple with grief.

———- ————  
Percy watched Nico reunite with his father, feeling strangely hollow. It was his fault that Bianca wasn't here to share in this moment. He felt a single tear sting his eyes, before travelling slowly down his face. He wiped it away hastily, hoping no one saw.

"Give them a few minutes." His voice came out hoarse and painfully small. All at once, everyone turned to look at him. "I'm fine." He added hastily, "This is a very touching moment."

Judging by Annabeth's understanding look, she knew. She knew that he blamed himself for Bianca's death.

"That was Nico di Angelo, son of Hades and the Ghost King." Annabeth finished for him.

It took a few minutes for Nico and his father to return. When they did, Percy noticed that Hades looked more at peace that he had ever seen the god of Underworld before and Nico looked happy.

"Let's continue." Athena nodded at them to proceed.

"I am Frank Zhang, legacy of Poseidon and son of Mars."

"No!" All the gods collectively recoiled as their forms started shifting. From Roman to Greek to Roman and back again.

"Oops?" Leo snickered.

Hazel went next, to try and get this over with so that the gods would stop flickering between their two personalities. "Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto."

Hades form flickered to Pluto. "My child!" He positively beamed at her, before shifting back to his Greek counterpart.

"Will Solace, son of Apollo." Will said.

"And my soulmate," Nico added smugly to the shock of both his father and Apollo.

"WHAT!?!?"

Will came up with a schist-eating grin, giving Nico a quick kiss. "Complaints, anyone?"

Hades / Pluto took one look at both of them and promptly fainted.

"He took that surprisingly well." Will commented.

"No." Nico corrected. "I think you just broke him."

"Moving on," Leo said impatiently, giving a wicked grin. "I am Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus. Also..."

He promptly set himself on fire and hollered at the top of his lungs. "BAD BOY SUPREME ADMIRAL LEO, SUPER-SIZED MC-SHIZZLE FLAMING VALDEZ!"

Jason and Piper groaned, having seen their friend do this routine many times before.

"My son." Hephaestus still looked a little shell-shocked. A fire-user for the first time in centuries?

"I like this one," Apollo grinned.

"Clarisse La Rue." Clarisse ground out, "Daughter of Ares."

Ares looked up, noticing his daughter for the first time. "Huh."

"Chris. Just call me Chris. Son of Hermes."

Hermes brightened.

"We are..." Conner started.

"Travis and Conner..." Travis continued.

"Stoll." They finished together. "Sons of Hermes."

"Yes!" Hermes pumped his fist. "My boys!"

"Grover Underwood, satyr, Lord of the Wild." Grover said, nervously.

"You found him?" Apollo and Hermes asked in excitement.

"It will be shown in the books," Annabeth explained.

"Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus, Lieutenant of the Hunt." Thalia stood forward. "Brother of Jason Grace."

"Aren't you a tree?" Zeus blinked.

"Yes." Thalia snapped.

Her father gave Thalia a sheepish smile. "Sorry?"

Reyna went next. "Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, daughter of Bellona, praetor of New Rome."

"That's all, I think." Athena surveyed the group of demigods and one satyr.

Annabeth coughed. "You forgot Percy."

Percy grinned. "Percy Jackson," he bowed, "Son of someone-the-Fates-don't-want-me-to-tell-sorry."

"I am sensing the sass." Apollo spoke up. "I kinda want to see where this goes."

"Who wants to read first?" Poseidon waved one book in the air. "I think that this is the first book."

"I'll read," Reyna volunteered.

Poseidon passed her the book. The sea god snapped his fingers and several couches and beanie bags appeared around the room. Everyone stared at him. "What?" He chuckled nervously. "It's more comfortable this way."

All the gods shrank themselves to 'normal' human height, and chose their respective seating arrangements.

"Let's start." Reyna cleared her throat. "Percy Jackson And The Lightning Thief."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This sucked. Apologies for the bad chapter


	4. Die, honey!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally, we reach the reading of : Chapter 1, The Lightning Thief

**"Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood."**

"Who does?" All the demigods said at once.

"Our lives suck." Chris added. Murmurs of agreement spread around the room.

The Gods looked at each other in worry. Was it really that bad?

**"If you are reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is: close this book right now. Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to live a normal life."**

"Great advice, Kelp-head." Thalia snorted. "Didn't really work for me."

"Whaddya expect?" Percy shrugged. "It came from me."

**"Being a half-blood is dangerous."**

Various demigods around the room nodded.

"Very dangerous." Piper shuddered, remembering the Seven's crazy adventure to stop Gaea.

**"It's scary."**

"Check."

**"Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways."**

"Double-check."

**"If you're a normal kid, reading this because you think it's fiction, great. Read on. I envy you for being able to believe that none of this ever happened."**

"I wish I was normal." Hazel said wistfully, picking at a loose thread in her shirt.

Frank leaned over, giving her a hug. "Don't we all wish we were normal?"

Various choruses of 'Yup' and 'Hades, yeah' came from the group. Except for Admiral Leo, of course.

"This face is too handsome to be normal."

Artemis slapped her hand over her face and groaned silently. Great, now there were two of them: Apollo and Valdez.

**"But if you recognise yourself in these pages - if you feel something stirring inside - stop reading immediately. You might be one of us. And once you know that, it's only a matter of time before they sense it too, and they'll come for you."**

"I hate the monsters' demigod-radar." Percy complained. "It's like the universe really hates us. Or like an author trying to make life really hard for his characters."

"Shh, no breaking the fourth wall," Annabeth smacked him on the head.

**"Don't say I didn't warn you."**

"You didn't warn me!" Nico cried, fake-sobbing on Thalia's shoulder.

"Or me," Thalia pouted.

**"My name is Percy Jackson."**

"No, it's Peter Johnson," Leo grinned.

"Yeah, right. Last I checked, it was Pietro Jannie." Annabeth said, a mischievous grin on her face.

"HAH!" Dionysus corrected gleefully, "You're both wrong! It's Potato Jellybean."

**"I'm twelve years old. Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York."**

"Yancy was nice while it lasted." Grover said mournfully.

Percy smiled wistfully, "Yup."

Jason shook his head in amazement, "Never thought that I would see the day when Percy Jackson, of all people, would miss school."

"Yes!" Leo whooped, "You've become one of us!"

"Huh?"

"You insulted Percy for the first time in your life! I thought that you were to formal for that, my man."

"Hey!" Percy and Jason both protested.

**"Am I a troubled kid?"**

"Yes." Everyone said at the same time, before looking at each other and bursting out in laughter.

"Traitors, all of them." Percy mumbled under his breath, putting on his most 'wounded' face.

**"Yeah. You could say that."**

"YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO AGREE!" Percy yelled at the book.

Everyone stared at him.

"You're talking to a book." Demeter said.

"Yeah, so?"

"You need cereal." The goddess of grain shook her head.

**"I could start at any point in my short miserable life to prove it,**

Poseidon looked worried at this sentence, turning slightly pale. Short? Miserable? That was not good.

**but things really started going bad last May, when our sixth-grade class took a field trip to Manhattan - twenty-eight mental-case kids and two teachers on a yellow school bus, heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff."**

"That doesn't sound so bad." Athena said. "Museum trips are highly educational."

Leo shuddered. "It sounds like torture."

Jason leaned over to Piper. "Did Percy just label himself as a mental-case kid?"

**"I know - it sounds like torture."**

"Am I really that predictable?" Percy asked, looking bewildered.

"Not a word." Leo grumbled, pretending to stare at his shoes. Gods, this was really awkward.

**"Most Yancy field trips were. But Mr Brunner, our Latin teacher, was leading this trip, so I had hopes. Mr Brunner was this middle-aged guy in a motorized wheelchair. He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard and a frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee. You wouldn't think he'd be cool, but he told stories and jokes and let us play games in class."**

Nico frowned too. He had a suspicious feeling that he knew this... this Mr Brunner character.

**"He also had this awesome collection of Roman armour and weapons, so he was the only teacher whose class didn't put me to sleep."**

Athena was appalled. "You slept in class?!?!"

"... I was bored? ADHD and dyslexia didn't help at all, you know." All of the demigods silently agreed.

**"I hoped this trip would be okay. At least, I hoped that for once I wouldn't get in trouble."**

"What kind of trouble?" Poseidon asked, fearing that it might be demi-godly ones.

Percy waved off his father's worry. "Mortal ones."

Will groaned. "Good job, Percy. You totally jinxed yourself."

**"Boy, was I wrong."**

"No kidding." Grover bleated nervously, remembering the disastrous trip to the Metropolitan museum.

**"See, bad things happen to me on field trips. Like at my fifth-grade school, when we went to the Saratoga battlefield, I had this accident with the Revolutionary War cannon. I wasn't aiming for the school bus, but of course I got expelled anyway. "**

The room burst into laughter. "Oh my gods, Percy." Nico giggled.

"You did what?!?!" Hermes looked delighted.

"Ooh, I like this one. I'm keeping him," Apollo decided at once.

**"And before that, at my fourth-grade school, when we took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, I sort of hit the wrong lever on the catwalk and our class took an unplanned swim."**

This just made everyone laugh harder. Athena's lip twitched in the beginning of a smile.

"Only you, Percy..." Frank smiled, "Only you."

"I want to hear more!" Leo was practically bouncing in his seat.

**"And the time before that... Well, you get the idea."**

"Nooo, I want to hear more." Apollo whined.

"Tell us later, please." Hermes begged.

"Okay." Percy grinned, "But it won't be pretty."

**"This trip, I was determined to be good."**

"That's sadly, impossible."

"Hey!"

**"All the way into the city, I put up with Nancy Bobofit, the freckly red-headed kleptomaniac girl, hitting my best friend, Grover, in the back of the head with chunks of peanut butter-and-ketchup sandwich."**

Both Grover and Percy winced. "Bullies, you gotta hate em." Percy said, grimacing.

"You knew Grover that long?" Jason asked, interestedly.

"Yup," Percy said proudly, "He was my protector. You should have seen him, with his fearsome battle cry of... of... FOOD!"

"Percy!" Grover scowled, a blush on his face.

**"Grover was an easy target. He was scrawny. He cried when he got frustrated. He must've been held back several grades, because he was the only sixth grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his chin. On top of all that, he was crippled."**

"That hurts, right here." Grover put his hand over his heart.

"That's harsh, cuz." Apollo admitted.

"Sorry." Percy said, sheepishly. "My thoughts are seriously messed up."

**"He had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life because he had some kind of muscular disease in his legs. He walked funny, like every step hurt him, but don't let that fool you. You should've seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria."**

"Satyrs, always getting themselves caught." Mr D added, drowsily.

"He's listening?"

"I can hear you, Leon Valdo."

**"Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwich that stuck in his curly brown hair, and she knew I couldn't do anything back to her because I was already on probation."**

"Probation for what?" Demeter asked.

Percy had the grace to look guilty. "I... might have had an... incident with a food fight. Turns out that the macaroni-cheese doesn't mix with headmasters well."

Jason looked at Percy with newfound respect.

**"The headmaster had threatened me with death..."**

"What?!?!" Poseidon exploded, "How dare that mere mortal..."

**by in-school suspension if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly entertaining happened on this trip.**

The sea god deflated. "Oh."

Athena sent him a smug smile. Percy was touched that his dad cared so much.

**"I'm going to kill her," I mumbled.**

Artemis gritted her teeth. Boys were so violent and vile.

**Grover tried to calm me down. "It's okay. I like peanut butter." He dodged another piece of Nancy's lunch.**

"That's not ok." Hestia frowned. "Bullying is not ok, Grover."

The satyr nodded hastily, stunned that a goddess would even talk to him. His face was red and his voice was squeaky. "Yeah, not ok. Bullying is bad. Right, Percy?"

Percy just shook his head fondly.

**"That's it." I started to get up, but Grover pulled me back to my seat. "You're already on probation," he reminded me. "You know who'll get blamed if anything happens."**

"That's incredibly unfair." Hades spoke up.

"Welcome to my life." Percy replied.

**”Looking back on it, I wish I'd decked Nancy Bobofit right then and there.”**

It was all Artemis could do not to vaporise Perseus at that moment. How dare this boy wish to hit a girl?!?!

**“In-school suspension would've been nothing compared to the mess I was about to get myself into. Mr. Brunner led the museum tour. He rode up front in his wheelchair, guiding us through the big echoey galleries, past marble statues and glass cases full of really old black-and-orange pottery. It blew my mind that this stuff had survived for two thousand, three thousand years.”**

"More than that, actually." Hephaestus spoke up, surprising everyone in the room.

Athena nodded in agreement. "Some of it has been around for millennia's."

**“He gathered us around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top, and started telling us how it was a grave marker, a stele, for a girl about our age. He told us about the carvings on the sides. I was trying to listen to what he had to say, because it was kind of interesting, but everybody around me was talking, and every time I told them to shut up, the other teacher chaperone, Mrs. Dodds, would give me the evil eye.”**

"You were actually interested?" Athena was so stunned.

"I'm not an idiot." Percy was insulted. "I do learn stuff, okay?"

Athena just shook her head in wonder, studying the son of Poseidon with interest. This should be good.

**“Mrs. Dodds was this little math teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, even though she was fifty years old. She looked mean enough to ride a Harley right into your locker. She had come to Yancy halfway through the year, when our last math teacher had a nervous breakdown.”**

Hades's eyes widened. It couldn't be. He only sent them after children of Zeus or Poseidon, so... Percy must be Poseidon's child because the kid had green eyes and black hair...

He slowly summoned his armour, careful not to let the others know.

**“From her first day, Mrs. Dodds loved Nancy Bobofit and figured I was devil spawn.”**

"No, that's Nico." Thalia smirked.

"Hey!" Nico scowled.

**“She would point her crooked finger at me and say, "Now, honey," real sweet, and I knew I was going to get after-school detention for a month.”**

Nico froze. There was only one person - monster - that would always call people 'honey'.

But there was no way that his dad sent a Fury after a twelve year old boy, even if the boy was Percy Jackson.

Nope, must've been a different monster.

**“One time, after she'd made me erase answers out of old math workbooks until midnight, I told Grover I didn't think Mrs. Dodds was human. He looked at me, real serious, and said, "You're absolutely right."**

Everyone groaned. "Good job, man." Hermes face-palmed, "You gave it away."

**“Mr. Brunner kept talking about Greek funeral art. Finally, Nancy Bobofit snickered something about the naked guy on the stele, and I turned around and said, "Will you shut up?"**

**It came out louder than I meant it to.”**

"It always does." Hermes said sadly.

**“The whole group laughed. Mr. Brunner stopped his story. "Mr. Jackson," he said, "did you have a comment?" My face was totally red.**

**I said, "No, sir."**

**Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele. "Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents?"**

"I bet five drachmas Percy doesn't know." Conner, Travis and Thalia said.

"And I bet ten drachmas that Percy does." Annabeth countered.

"Done."

**“I looked at the carving, and felt a flush of relief, because I actually recognized it.”**

"Yes!" Annabeth cheered, "Pay up, losers." They did so, reluctantly.

Percy looked at his Wisegirl adoringly. She was willing to bet TEN drachmas for him!

**"That's Kronos eating his kids, right?"**

Those who had experienced this, flinched as they recalled their father eating them. "It was nasty." Hades shuddered.

**"Yes," Mr. Brunner said, obviously not satisfied. "And he did this because ..."**

"Because he was a paranoid bastard who couldn't stand someone being better than him!" Poseidon growled. "If I get my hands on that *_censored_* *_censored_* * _censored_*."

Everyone stared at him.

"...there are children present here, brother." Hades glanced at his beloved son. He would not have his brother corrupting his Nico.

**"Well..." I racked my brain to remember. "Kronos was the king god, and-"**

"God?!?!" Zeus bellowed, "How dare you insolent demigod..."

**"God?" Mr. Brunner asked. "Titan," I corrected myself.**

"Good." Zeus sniffed.

**"And ... he didn't trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters-"**

Demeter turned green.

**"Eeew!" said one of the girls behind me.**

Aphrodite nodded in agreement. "Ew."

**"-and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans," I continued, "and the gods won."**

"Amazing. He just summed up years of fighting in a single sentence." Athena shook her head.

"That's Percy for you." Thalia told her.

**”Some snickers from the group. Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend, "Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids'."**

**"And why, Mr. Jackson," Brunner said, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?"**

"Busted." Everyone chorused.

**"Busted," Grover muttered.”**

Grover turned pink while everyone laughed.

**"Shut up," Nancy hissed, her face even brighter red than her hair. At least Nancy got packed, too. Mr. Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears.”**

"Definitely a centaur. Most likely Chiron." Dionysus decided. He turned to glare at everyone who was gaping at him. "What?"

Jason shook his head in wonder. "He's actually listening."

"I can hear you Jamie Gelato."

**“I thought about his question, and shrugged. "I don't know, sir."**

**"I see." Mr. Brunner looked disappointed. "Well, half credit, Mr. Jackson. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?"**

"Happy note?" Demeter asked incredulously.

"Yes, happy." Hades answered, looking bewildered. "Why is everyone looking at me like that?"

**“The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and acting like doofuses.”**

Artemis sniffed. "Boys always act like idiots."

Percy opened his mouth to argue but paused. "I can't actually argue there." He said resignedly.

Artemis was stunned. No boy would ever admit their failings! Maybe this one would be different. She would have to wait and see.

**“Grover and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner said, "Mr. Jackson."**

"Someone's in trouble." Thalia said.

**“I knew that was coming. I told Grover to keep going. Then I turned toward Mr. Brunner. "Sir?" Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go- intense brown eyes that could've been a thousand years old and had seen everything.”**

Hera frowned. The boy was observant, she had to give him that.

**"You must learn the answer to my question," Mr. Brunner told me.**

**"About the Titans?"**

**"About real life. And how your studies apply to it."**

**"Oh."**

**"What you learn from me," he said, "is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson."**

**I wanted to get angry, this guy pushed me so hard.**

"He only wants to help you so you don't die when you are attacked by monsters." Poseidon pointed out.

"Yeah, I know." Percy said, looking down at his shoes.

**“I mean, sure, it was kind of cool on tournament days, when he dressed up in a suit of Roman armor and shouted: "What ho!'" and challenged us, sword-point against chalk, to run to the board and name every Greek and Roman person who had ever lived, and their mother, and what god they worshipped.”**

"That sounds awesome." Leo said, wistfully.

Percy cracked a small smile. "Yeah, it was."

**“But Mr. Brunner expected me to be as good as everybody else, despite the fact that I have dyslexia and attention deficit disorder and I had never made above a C- in my life.”**

"That's sad. Percy is never above C-level." Nico whispered to Will, who elbowed him.

"Ow!"

"That's a terrible pun."

**“No-he didn't expect me to be as good; he expected me to be better. And I just couldn't learn all those names and facts, much less spell them correctly. I mumbled something about trying harder, while Mr. Brunner took one long sad look at the stele, like he'd been at this girl's funeral.”**

"He probably did." Hermes admitted.

**“He told me to go outside and eat my lunch. The class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the foot traffic along Fifth Avenue. Overhead, a huge storm was brewing, with clouds blacker than I'd ever seen over the city. I figured maybe it was global warming or something, because the weather all across New York state had been weird since Christmas. We'd had massive snow storms, flooding, wildfires from lightning strikes. I wouldn't have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in.”**

Everyone looked at Zeus and Poseidon.

"I wonder what happened to put you two at each other's throats. Again." Aphrodite wondered out loud, pointing at both Poseidon and Zeus.

"How are we supposed to know?" They both shrugged.

**“Nobody else seemed to notice. Some of the guys were pelting pigeons with Lunchables crackers. Nancy Bobofit was trying to pickpocket something from a lady's purse, and, of course, Mrs. Dodds wasn't seeing a thing.”**

"One of yours?" Zeus asked Hermes. He shook his head.

"If she was one of mine, she would have already done it." He explained.

**“Grover and I sat on the edge of the fountain, away from the others. We thought that maybe if we did that, everybody wouldn't know we were from that school - the school for loser freaks who couldn't make it elsewhere.”**

"You're not a loser freak." Thalia was quick to say.

Percy just gave her a sad smile. "I was in Yancy. The only friend I had was actually G-Man over here."

**"Detention?" Grover asked.**

**"Nah," I said. "Not from Brunner. I just wish he'd lay off me sometimes. I mean-I'm not a genius."**

**Grover didn't say anything for a while. Then, when I thought he was going to give me some deep philosophical comment to make me feel better, he said, "Can I have your apple?"**

Everyone laughed, while Grover flushed.

"Boys," Artemis rolled her eyes, "Always thinking about food."

**”I didn't have much of an appetite, so I let him take it. I watched the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue, and thought about my mom's apartment, only a little ways uptown from where we sat. I hadn't seen her since Christmas. I wanted so bad to jump in a taxi and head home.”**

"Mama's boy." Ares complained.

"Yeah, so?" Percy challenged, turning around to face the god of war. Hera nodded approvingly. She was starting to like this particular demigod. She hoped that he wouldn't be one of Zeus's because then she would have to... well, deal with him.

**“She'd hug me and be glad to see me, but she'd be disappointed, too. She'd send me right back to Yancy, remind me that I had to try harder, even if this was my sixth school in six years and I was probably going to be kicked out again. I wouldn't be able to stand that sad look she'd give me.”**

"Wimp." Ares muttered.

Percy raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you the one still living with his mother?" That shut Ares up.

**“Mr. Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while he read a paperback novel. A red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorized cafe table. I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appeared in front of me with her ugly friends-I guess she'd gotten tired of stealing from the tourists-and dumped her half-eaten lunch in Grover's lap.”**

"I'll kill that bitch." Thalia fumed, hands already sparking with rage.

"Thalia, it's okay." Grover yelped, trying to calm her down. "It's long ago."

"Fine. But I'm not making any promises."

**"Oops." She grinned at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles were orange, as if somebody had spray-painted her face with liquid Cheetos.”**

Aphrodite paled. The girl needed a serious make-over. Meanwhile, Leo groaned.

"You just spoiled Cheetos for me." He whined.

Percy shrugged, grinning. "Blame my overactive mind."

**“I tried to stay cool. The school counselor had told me a million times, "Count to ten, get control of your temper." But I was so mad my mind went blank. A wave roared in my ears. I don't remember touching her, but the next thing I knew, Nancy was sitting on her butt in the fountain, screaming, "Percy pushed me!"**

"Wait. He's Poseidon's son, right?" Athena said.

"Yup." Percy said proudly, bowing. "Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, at your service."

Hera was greatly relieved. Not Zeus's spawn!

Poseidon, on the other hand, was beaming. His son!

**“Mrs. Dodds materialized next to us.”**

"Monster alert!" Frank said.

**“Some of the kids were whispering: "Did you see-"**

**"-the water-"**

**"-like it grabbed her-"**

"It did." Percy confirmed.

**“I didn't know what they were talking about. All I knew was that I was in trouble again. As soon as Mrs. Dodds was sure poor little Nancy was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the museum gift shop, etc., etc., Mrs. Dodds turned on me.”**

"Oh, not good." Hazel winced.

**There was a triumphant fire in her eyes, as if I'd done something she'd been waiting for all semester. "Now, honey-"**

**"I know," I grumbled. "A month erasing workbooks." That wasn't the right thing to say.**

"No!" Hermes said, aghast. "Never guess your punishment. That's rule number #10."

"Yeah," Apollo agreed. "It just makes it worse."

**"Come with me," Mrs. Dodds said.**

**"Wait!" Grover yelped. "It was me. I pushed her."**

"That's very brave of you." Piper told Grover. His ears turned pink.

**“I stared at him, stunned. I couldn't believe he was trying to cover for me. Mrs. Dodds scared Grover to death. She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled. "I don't think so, Mr. Underwood," she said.”**

"Scary." Hazel shivered.

**"But-"**

**"You-will-stay-here."**

**Grover looked at me desperately.**

"Thanks for trying, man." Percy told Grover.

**"It's okay, man," I told him. "Thanks for trying."**

**"Honey," Mrs. Dodds barked at me. "Now."**

**Nancy Bobofit smirked. I gave her my deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare.”**

Everyone who has been in battle with Percy collectively shivered, recalling his glares. Athena picked up on this. "Is it that bad?" She asked, curiously.

"You don't want to know." Nico said.

"Yeah, right." Ares scoffed.

Percy smiled, stood up and faced the gods. He decided on giving them his medium glare. Immediately the temperature in the room dropped, and several gods turned deathly pale. "Okay, I see what you meant." Apollo squeaked. "Please stop."

Percy stopped, returning to his seat next to Annabeth.

"Yeah." Hades shivered. "It was that bad."

The demigods nodded.

**“Then I turned to face Mrs. Dodds, but she wasn't there. She was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at me to come on. How'd she get there so fast?”**

"Definitely a monster."

**“I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something, and the next thing I know I've missed something, as if a puzzle piece fell out of the universe and left me staring at the blank place behind it. The school counselor told me this was part of the ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things.**

**I wasn't so sure.”**

"Your surprisingly perceptive." Athena told the demigod.

"...Thanks?"

**” I went after Mrs. Dodds. Halfway up the steps, I glanced back at Grover. He was looking pale, cutting his eyes between me and Mr. Brunner, like he wanted Mr. Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr. Brunner was absorbed in his novel.”**

"I'm gonna have to have a talk with Chiron." Poseidon frowned.

**“I looked back up. Mrs. Dodds had disappeared again. She was now inside the building, at the end of the entrance hall. Okay, I thought. She's going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the gift shop.”**

"I wish." Percy grumbled.

**“But apparently that wasn't the plan. I followed her deeper into the museum. When I finally caught up to her, we were back in the Greek and Roman section. Except for us, the gallery was empty. Mrs. Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods.”**

"Rule Number #3 kid, never go alone with a suspected monster." Apollo said nervously. The god was growing surprisingly fond of his little cuz.

"How was I to know?" Percy replied. "I figured that a teacher won't actually, you know.... kill me?"

**“She was making this weird noise in her throat, like growling. Even without the noise, I would've been nervous. It's weird being alone with a teacher, especially Mrs. Dodds. Something about the way she looked at the frieze, as if she wanted to pulverize it...”**

"Would she actually destroy the frieze?" Reyna asked, curiously.

"Depends on what god was on it." Percy replied, sneaking a look at Hades. When did the god put on armour?

**"You've been giving us problems, honey," she said.**

**I did the safe thing. I said, "Yes, ma'am."**

"Seriously?" Jason asked incredulously. "You agreed?"

"...oops?" Percy said, innocently.

**”She tugged on the cuffs of her leather jacket. "Did you really think you would get away with it?" The look in her eyes was beyond mad. It was evil. She's a teacher, I thought nervously. It's not like she's going to hurt me.”**

"Wrong." Poseidon gripped the arm of the couch, worried for his son.

**”I said, "I'll-I'll try harder, ma'am."**

"Since when does Percy Jackson do polite?" Thalia demanded, a grin on her face.

Percy did the mature thing to do, which is to say, he stuck his tongue out.

**Thunder shook the building.**

Everyone glanced at Zeus.

**"We are not fools, Percy Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said. "It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain."**

"Less pain?" Hestia said, paling slightly.

**“I didn't know what she was talking about. All I could think of was that the teachers must've found the illegal stash of candy I'd been selling out of my dorm room.”**

"Dude, you're like a drug dealer, but with candy." Leo smirked.

**“Or maybe they'd realized I got my essay on Tom Sawyer from the Internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade.”**

"You did what?" Athena screeched.

"Flashnotes is a real lifesaver." Percy told the goddess smugly.

**“Or worse, they were going to make me read the book.”**

Annabeth huffed. "I'm gonna make you read the book."

"Don't do this to me!" Percy sobbed. "I'm too young to read."

"..."

**"Well?" she demanded.**

**"Ma'am, I don't..."**

**"Your time is up," she hissed.**

Everyone held their breath.

**“Then the weirdest thing happened. Her eyes began to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretched, turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. She wasn't human. She was a shriveled hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice me to ribbons.”**

There was a long pause. Percy winced. His father was not gonna react well. And he was right.

"YOU SENT A FURY AFTER ME SON!" Poseidon screeched, getting up and summoning his weapon. Hades let out a squeak of terror, falling backwards over the couch and landing on the floor.

Nico shook his head. "Behold, the mighty lord of the Underworld."

Percy caught his dad's arm before he pulverised Uncle H. "Dad, I'm fine!"

The sea god fumed as he sat down.

**“Then things got even stranger. Mr. Brunner, who'd been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheeled his chair into the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand.”**

"Finally!" Piper cheered, relieved.

**"What ho, Percy!" he shouted, and tossed the pen through the air.**

"Wait, he didn't help?" Jason asked, stunned. "He just gave you a pen?"

"Training?" Percy guessed. "I'm not actually sure why?"

His dad mumbled something about having a long chat with the centaur.

**“Mrs. Dodds lunged at me.”**

"Dodge!" Everyone yelled at the book.

**“With a yelp, I dodged and felt talons slash the air next to my ear. I snatched the ballpoint pen out of the air, but when it hit my hand, it wasn't a pen anymore. It was a sword-Mr. Brunner's bronze sword, which he always used on tournament day.”**

"Finally." Ares grinned, "Some action. For a minute I thought that the punk was gonna write the fury to death."

**“Mrs. Dodds spun toward me with a murderous look in her eyes. My knees were jelly. My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped the sword.”**

Percy stared down on his legs. It was actually shaking. "Guys?" He yelped, "I can't control my leg."

The realisation dawned on Athena. "What we read, happens to the boy," she concluded. She paused. "Might want to read faster."

**“She snarled, "Die, honey!" And she flew straight at me. Absolute terror ran through my body.”**

Percy's face was stark white with fear now.

**“I did the only thing that came naturally: I swung the sword.”**

Hermes shook his head sadly. He liked this kid but swinging a sword randomly would not defeat a Fury.

**“The metal blade hit her shoulder and passed clean through her body as if she were made of water. Hisss! Mrs. Dodds was a sand castle in a power fan. She exploded into yellow powder, vaporized on the spot, leaving nothing but the smell of sulfur and a dying screech and a chill of evil in the air, as if those two glowing red eyes were still watching me.”**

"He did it?" Demeter was stunned.

"I guess." Hermes said, gaping at the boy who was untrained yet defeated a Fury at age 12.

**“I was alone. There was a ballpoint pen in my hand. Mr. Brunner wasn't there. Nobody was there but me. My hands were still trembling.”**

Percy stared miserably at his shaking hands.

**“My lunch must've been contaminated with magic mushrooms or something.”**

"What the heck?" Leo asked.

"I know, my mind is messed up."

**“Had I imagined the whole thing? I went back outside. It had started to rain. Grover was sitting by the fountain, a museum map tented over his head. Nancy Bobofit was still standing there, soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends. When she saw me, she said, "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt."**

"Who?" Everyone asked.

**”I said, "Who?"**

**"Our teacher. Duh!" I blinked. We had no teacher named Mrs. Kerr. I asked Nancy what she was talking about. She just rolled her eyes and turned away. I asked Grover where Mrs. Dodds was. He said, "Who?" But he paused first, and he wouldn't look at me, so I thought he was messing with me.”**

"Mist." Athena concluded.

**"Not funny, man," I told him. "This is serious." Thunder boomed overhead. I saw Mr. Brunner sitting under his red umbrella, reading his book, as if he'd never moved. I went over to him. He looked up, a little distracted. "Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Mr. Jackson."**

"Chiron...." Thalia shook her head fondly, still a little shaken from the fact that her cousin fought a Fury!

**“I handed Mr. Brunner his pen. I hadn't even realized I was still holding it. "Sir," I said, "where's Mrs. Dodds?" He stared at me blankly. "Who?"**

"Now, Chiron can lie." Hermes nodded approvingly. "The satyr couldn't. Might need to start giving lessons."

**"The other chaperone. Mrs. Dodds. The pre-algebra teacher."**

**He frowned and sat forward, looking mildly concerned. "Percy, there is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip. As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling all right?"**

Reyna closed the book. "Thats the end of chapter one. Who wants to read next?"


	5. The Incredibly Deadly Fruit Stand

"I'll read next." Athena took the book from Reyna. The goddess cleared her throat. "Three Old La..." her voice faltered as her eyes widened, taking in the rest of the title.

She almost dropped the book.

"What is it?" Poseidon asked, nervously. The rest of the gods and goddess ( and demigods and one satyr ) inched forward curiously.

Athena took a deep breath, visibly trying to steel herself. "**Three Old Ladies Knit The Socks Of Death."**

The room fell silent. Grover and Percy winced. All eyes turned to Percy, who shrank back against his seat. "You saw the Fates?" Apollo breathed, "How are you still alive?"

"A question," Percy replied slowly, "That I still asked myself today."

Poseidon couldn't breath. Not his son! Annabeth, on the other hand, turned white. "You didn't tell me, Percy." She said, worried.

"Sorry? I didn't want to worry you."

Everyone ignored Aphrodite, who cooed softly.

It was so sweet. She had found her new favourite ship. Percabeth, she thought dreamily. It was perfect.

"Anyway," Athena fumbled for the right words. "Let's continue." She resumed her reading stance.

**I was used to the occasional weird experience, but ... the entire campus seemed to be playing some kind of trick on me.**

**The students acted as if they were completely and totally convinced that Mrs. Kerr ... had been our pre-algebra teacher since.**

"Wait. Kerr?" Athena paused, before realising something. Grace Kerr was her daughter, one of the lucky ones who had remained unnoticed by the monsters. Hmmm... she really should pay Grace a visit.

**Every so often I would spring a Mrs. Dodds reference ... had never existed. **

**Almost. **

"Grover." Everyone groaned, while the satyr blushed.

**But Grover couldn't fool me**.

"Nailed it." Apollo grinned. He thought for a minute, before snapping his fingers. "I know! I'll create a satyr boot camp about how to tell lies successfully!"

"That's actually not a bad idea," Demeter admitted.

"Totally. I'll help." Hermes added.

**When I mentioned the name Dodds ... something had happened at the museum. **

"No kidding." Thalia snorted.

**I didn't have much time to think ... wake me up in a cold sweat. **

"Wimp." Ares said, grinning menacingly at Percy

"Peasant." Percy retorted, sniffing slightly.

The war god turned red. "Coward."

"Communist."

Everyone stared at Percy. "...What?"

Athena continued reading before World War 3 broke out.

**The freak weather continued ... only fifty miles from Yancy Academy.**

Again, everyone glanced at Zeus, who winced.

**One of the current events ... in the Atlantic that year. **

Now, everyone's eyes turned to Poseidon, who shrugged in return. How was he to know why future-himself was so mad?

**I started feeling ... irritable most of the time.**

"The boy is surprisingly tuned in to his father's emotions." Athena commented. "For him to be affected by his father's mood... there's a very strong connection."

There was a long moment where everyone tried to let this sink in.

"Whoa!" Percy exclaimed, "That is so cool!"

Poseidon privately made a mental note to be more happier and not be so cranky. He didn't want to affect his son, after all.

**My grades slipped ... almost every class**. 

"Oh, Percy." Thalia said softly, "I know from Grover that the year was tough, but I didn't expect it to be this bad."

"It's okay." He reassured her, leaning over to give her a hug, "It'll get better."

Meanwhile, Artemis twitched in her seat. A. **Boy**. Was hugging. Her. Hunter.

**Finally, when our English teacher ... called him an old sot.**

Athena chuckled. "That's a good one. You basically called him an old drunk."

"So, you called him a Dionysus then..."

"....Remind me to kill you later, Carly Strell."

**I wasn't even sure ... not be invited back next year to Yancy Academy**. 

Athena paused. "Just out of curiosity," She asked, "How many schools were you kicked out of?"

"Ten schools in six years," was the immediate reply.

Leo internally did a fan-boy scream. Yes! He found someone who could relate to him!

**Fine, I told myself ... obnoxious stepfather and his stupid poker parties.**

"Paul plays poker?" Jason asked, confused. "I thought he was nice, too."

Quickly, Grover shuffled closer to the youngest Grace sibling.

"Before Paul." The satyr whispered in Jason's ear. "Be careful. It's a bit... sensitive for him."

Jason nodded slowly, feeling dread pool on the bottom of his gut.

**And yet, there were things I'd miss ... the smell of pine trees**.

"Makes sense." Thalia nodded, "Kelphead over here is nature-crazy. Spends 2/3 of his time with Annabeth and the rest, well, he usually sits in the woods or swims underwater."

Demeter beamed. She really should spend some time with this particular demigod. (Despite the fact that he was a sea spawn) this Perseus was the only one who understood the beauty of nature and plants.

**I'd miss Grover ... even if he was a little strange**.

"Thanks, man." Grover said, grinning at his best friend.

**I worried ... without me. **

"You are way overprotective." Apollo told his cousin. "Kinda like Uncle Poseidon."

**I'd miss Latin class ... his faith that I could do well.**

"That's so sweet." Hestia smiled.

**As exam week got closer, Latin was the only test ... but I'd started to believe him. **

"Smart choice." Nico said, leaning on Will's arm.

**The evening before my final, I got so frustrated ... across my dorm room.**

Athena's eye twitched slightly. "You threw the book!"

"...would you believe me if I said that it slipped out of my hands?"

"No."

**Words had started swimming ... as if they were riding skateboards**.

"So that's how dyslexia feels like." Athena murmured thoughtfully.

**There was no way I was going to remember ... or Polydictes and Polydeuces.**

Percy snuck a look at Annabeth, who raised an eyebrow.

On the bright side, he knew first-hand what was the difference between Chiron and Charon. Chiron was awesome and also a half-horse - centaur - while Charon was the miserable guy who spent eternity grumbling about pay raises as he transported souls back and forth.

**And conjugating those ... like ants were crawling around inside my shirt**. 

Percy squirmed in his seat. The 'ants' in question, were currently doing an invisible dance all over his body.

**I remembered Mr Brunner's serious expression ... I picked up the mythology book.**

"Ha, YES!" Leo shouted gleefully. "The PERCY IS MOTIVATED!"

Athena hurriedly read on before that Hephaestus kid gave her a migraine.

**I'd never asked a teacher ... didn't want to leave Yancy Academy with him thinking I hadn't tried. **

"At least you tried." Piper gave him a smile, patting his shoulder.

**I walked downstairs ... I heard voices inside the office.**

"So that's what happened!" Grover exclaimed. "I swear you gave me a heart attack on the bus."

"Spoilers." Percy coughed.

**Mr. Brunner asked a question ... I froze.**

**I'm not usually an eavesdropper ... talking about you to an adult.**

"He has a point." Hermes pointed out when he caught sight of Athena frowning in disapproval.

**I inched closer.**

**"... alone this summer," Grover was saying. "I mean, a Kindly One ... and they know too-"**

"Why do they call them 'Kindly' Ones, anyway?" Leo asked. "I mean, that's like the opposite of the name, so..."

"Greek stuff doesn't make sense." Percy shrugged. "I'm technically related to the Golden Fleece."

"HOLY SCHIST WHAT THE HECK!?!?"

**"We would only make matters worse ... need the boy to mature more."**

Thalia snorted. "Five years later and he still isn't mature."

"I am mature!" Percy shot back, sticking out his tongue.

**"But he may not have time ... solstice dead-line- "**

**"Will have to be resolved without him ... enjoy his ignorance while he still can."**

Percy appreciated the effort. He was grateful that at least, Chiron had tried to spare him the Greek Craziness a little longer. 

Not that it helped much.

**"Sir, he saw her... ."**

"He fought her." Annabeth corrected quietly under her breath. "Would be hard, even using the Mist, to erase that memory."

**"His imagination ... enough to convince him of that." **

"It was a living nightmare. I seriously thought that I was going crazy." Percy admitted.

"I know how you feel, bro." Jason added sympathetically. Both shared a glance and quietly glared at Hera when she was not looking.

**"Sir, I-I can't fail ... know what that would mean."**

"You. Did. Not. Fail." Thalia said fiercely, pulling Grover into a hug. "It was my choice and MY choice alone."

The poor satyr yelped, withering under the glare that the goddess of the Hunt was sending him.

"Thalia." Hazel tapped the hunter's shoulder shyly. "Maybe you should let him go before Lady Artemis disintegrates everyone here."

**"You haven't failed ... worry about keeping Percy alive until next fall-"**

"Oh, wow. Way to break it to him slowly." Will groaned, slinging an arm over Nico, who in turn nuzzled closer to his boyfriend.

**The mythology book dropped ... with a thud. **

"No!" Hermes said, aghast. "You just broke Rule Number #56 of thieving! Never make a sound!"

**Mr. Brunner went silent ... I picked up the book and backed down the hall. **

"Yes, yes." The god of thieves murmured tensely, "You can still salvage this."

**A shadow slid across ... suspiciously like an archer's bow. **

"Chiron is really getting careless." Poseidon groaned, sinking backwards onto his throne. "What if some other student saw him?"

**I opened the nearest door and slipped inside ... like an animal snuffling right outside my door.**

**A large, dark shape ... then moved on.**

Despite himself, Apollo breathe a quick sigh of relief. He was seriously starting to like his little cousin and he definitely didn't want Chiron accidentally shooting him or something.

Nope, not gonna jinx it.

**A bead of sweat ... down my neck.**

"Cold!" Percy suddenly yelped, hand flying to his neck. Annabeth shushed him, grey eyes still reverted to the book in her mother's hands.

**Somewhere in the hallway, Mr. Brunner spoke. **

**"Nothing. My nerves haven't been right ... since the winter solstice."**

Hera exchanged a look with Zeus. This was the second time that the winter solstice was mentioned. Something really serious must have happened...

Perhaps Ares had proposed to Aphrodite again?

Hera knew for a fact what the fallout of a furious Hephaestus would be. Just thinking about it still gave her the shivers, because honestly?

She didn't want a repeat of that Throne Incident.

Nope, never again. Lesson learned. Not gonna cross her misshapen, deformed genius of a son again.

**"Mine neither ... but I could have sworn-" **

**"Go back to the dorm ... exams tomorrow."**

Every demigod who ever experienced the torture of school let out a groan at this.

Leo whimpered.

**"Don't remind me."**

**The lights went out ... what seemed like forever. **

"Dramatic much?" Ares sneered.

"Why, yes. Thank you." Percy grinned victoriously, as the war god's face contorted with rage, somehow making him even uglier.

**Finally, I slipped out into the hallway ... like he'd been there all night. **

**"Hey ... ready for this test?"**

"Hah, nice joke." Percy snorted. "When am I ever ready?"

"It's kind of depressing that that just came out of your own mouth." Frank said, feeling a little bit disturbed, because seriously?

This was coming from the leader of the both the Roman and Greek camps.

**I didn't answer. **

**"You look awful ... everything okay?" **

"No." Nico drawled sarcastically. "He just heard you tell 'Mr Brunner' that he was probably gonna die."

Everyone turned to stare at the son of Hades.

"What?" He snapped, defensively, shrinking closer to Will.

**"Just... tired."**

**I turned so he couldn't read my expression ... started to get ready for bed.**

"Hah, jokes on you!" Dionysus giggled. "Satyrs can smell emotion! Like candy from ch-children and sweat on pizza."

Everyone turned to stare at Mr D with _wtf_ faces.

"When did he get drunk?" Travis asked, disbelievingly.

Zeus shrugged helplessly.

**I didn't understand ... what I'd heard downstairs.**

Athena internally rolled her eyes in exasperation. Perseus was a son of Poseidon. Of course, he wouldn't understood simple data.

**I wanted to believe ... imagined the whole thing**.

"Delusion is a very powerful thing." Leo said wisely.

When the others turned to look at him in shock, he added defensively. "What? I mean, I once deluded myself into thinking that pineapples belong on pizza and that the neighbour's cat could transform into this really tall, scary-looking strict lady who could disappear into thin air."

"I think that she had this wicked-looking stick with her that she used to do some really cool lightning things that could knock people out!" Leo said thoughtfully.

He shrugged. "...Or maybe I just O'D on M&M's and Twinkies again."

"Eh, makes sense." Percy decided and just like that, everyone turned back to Athena who was impatiently holding The Book.

Meanwhile, somewhere far away, Hecate froze, a shiver running down her spine.

**But one thing was clear ... they thought I was in some kind of danger.**

"No schist, Sherlock." Clarisse muttered, definitely not leaning closer to Chris.

**The next afternoon ... my eyes swimming with all the Greek and Roman names I'd misspelled,**

"Holy schist, how are you still alive?" Leo whispered in awe, his respect for Percy increasing a hundred-fold.

Even Annabeth looked slightly queasy at the unnaturally high amount of time that Percy was forced to sit through for his exams.

It was practically a death sentence for every demigod ever.

**Mr Brunner called me back inside.**

"Oh no." Apollo bit his lip in worry. "That doesn't sound good."

**For a moment, I was worried he'd found out about my eavesdropping ... didn't seem to be the problem.**

"That's probably the least of your worries." Hestia advised him.

**"Percy, don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy ... for the best."**

Poseidon's jaw dropped open. It took approximately half-a-second for the anger to kick in, mixed with the realisation that Chiron was seriously damaging his son's self-esteem.

No, this would not do.

But for his son's sake, he swallowed down all the furious curses and yells that threatened to burst out of him. 

"I'm gonna have some words with that centaur." He hissed softly, watching his son's eyes glaze over with hurt, no doubt recalling that moment.

**His tone was kind, but the words still embarrassed me ... other kids finishing the test could hear.**

Even Athena winced in sympathy.

**Nancy Bobofit smirked ... sarcastic little kissing motions with her lips. **

"Okay," Thalia snarled. "That's it. I'm gonna kill that bitch painfully and slowly."

"I'll help." Piper added, equally fiercely.

Percy stared at them wide-eyed.

**I mumbled, "Okay, sir." **

Annabeth unconsciously tugged Percy closer to her.

**"I mean, this isn't ... it was only a matter of time."**

This time, Poseidon couldn't stop the snarl from escaping.

Percy sent his dad a concerned look. "Dad? Are you okay?"

Plastering a fake smile on his face, the Sea God nodded, although, he wasn't really fooling anyone. Athena hurriedly read on before Poseidon got really angry.

Like, Titanic and tsunami levels of angry.

**My eyes stung.**

A single tear rolled down Percy's cheek.

"Sorry, sorry!" He yelped, when he saw that everyone was staring at him in panic. "My eyes are legit stinging."

**Here was my favourite teacher ... telling me I couldn't handle it.**

Poseidon twitched.

**After saying he believed in me ... now telling me I was destined to get kicked out. **

Leo's lip trembled. He knew that feeling all too well.

**"Right," I said, trembling. **

**"No, no ... you're not normal, Percy. That's nothing to be-"**

"Yeah." Percy smiled ruefully. "Definitely not normal."

**"Thanks ... Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me."**

**"Percy-" **

**But I was already gone. **

There was a slight pause.

"Well, that was depressing." Aphrodite commented, tucking a stray hair carefully to one side.

**On the last day, I shoved my clothes into my suitcase ... Another was cruising the Caribbean for a month.**

"Rich kids." Leo and Percy said together, sharing a look. Leo's face grew warm as he smiled shyly.

It felt kinda nice.

**They were ... rich juvenile delinquents.**

Jason rolled his eyes. This was such a Percy-thing to say. It had an odd, yet somehow perfect, blend of dry and dark humour, but the only thing that he didn't like was the fact that his friend was putting himself down again.

**Their daddies were executives ... I was a nobody, from a family of nobodies. **

"Hey!" Zeus exclaimed. "I am not a nobody!"

"No." Percy deadpanned. "That's Annabeth."

"My daughter's not a nobody!" Athena snapped.

Percy shared a meaningful look with his girlfriend and Grover, and the three burst out laughing. Even Clarisse smirked at the utterly confused looks on everyone else's face.

**They asked me what I'd be doing this summer ... selling magazine subscriptions, and spend my free time worrying about where I'd go to school in the fall.**

Percy flushed. He hadn't wanted anyone to know about this part of his life. He looked down at his feet, praying that no-one would say anything. He didn't want pity of sympathy or anything of that sort.

Annabeth picked up on this. She sent fierce glares to everyone, warning them wordlessly to keep quiet.

Poseidon looked absolutely crushed. His poor son.... Oh gods, he was such a terrible excuse of a father. He consoled himself with the thought that, from now on, he would start doing what the mortals called 'child support'.

After all, he still had a couple of sunken ships full of gold somewhere...

**"Oh ... That's cool."**

**They went back ... as if I'd never existed.**

"Rude." Piper hissed.

**The only person I dreaded saying good-bye to was Grover ... turned out, I didn't have to.**

"I'm with you until the very end, buddy." Grover smiled softly.

"Thanks, G-man." Percy grinned gratefully back.

Annabeth watched all this with a proud smile on her face, feeling so lucky to have such a wonderful family.

**He'd booked a ticket to Manhattan on the same Greyhound ... heading into the city.**

"Coincidence? I don't think so!" Jason smirked wolfishly.

The gods exchanged confused looks. Piper choked while Annabeth and Frank started wheezing.

"That's my boy!" Percy beamed, wiping away a fake tear. "They grow up so fast."

**During the whole bus ride, Grover kept glancing nervously ... as if he expected something bad to happen.**

"Dramatic irony right there." Connor shook his head. "I'm starting to think that maybe Percy is the real prophecy guy."

Hades kept his knowing smile mostly internal. Hah, funny story about that.

Because, it turned out that Sally Jackson, the boy's mother was the direct descendent of one of the first oracles.

Shhh...

**Before, I'd always assumed he was worried about getting teased ... Finally, I couldn't stand it anymore.**

**"Looking for Kindly Ones?" **

"Are you trying to kill the poor satyr?" Hera asked, raising an eyebrow.

Percy shrugged apologetically.

**Grover nearly jumped ... "Wha-what do you mean?" **

**I confessed about eavesdropping ... before the exam.**

"No!" Hermes cried out, devastated. "Never confess! That's Rule No. 250."

"Whoops, I failed the test." Percy said nonchalantly.

Apollo snorted, seeing the shocked look on Hermes's face. "Real sassy, cousin."

**Grover's eye twitched. "How much did you hear?"**

"How about all of it?" Will asked, raising an eyebrow.

**"Oh, not much ... summer solstice dead-line?"**

And there it was again. The summer solstice. By now, Hera was starting to get slightly more than concerned about this... deadline and what it would mean.

**He winced. "Look, Percy, I was worried for you ... hallucinating about demon math teachers-" **

**"Grover-" **

**"And I was telling Mr Brunner ... because there was no such person as Mrs Dodds and-" **

**"Grover, you're a really, really bad liar." **

The room burst into laughter while the satyr in question blushed, eyes decidedly fixed on his feet - uh, hooves.

**His ears turned pink ... card was in fancy script, which was murder on my dyslexic eyes,**

All the demigods winced in sympathy**.**

**but I finally made out something like: Grover Underwood ... New York (800) 009-0009**

"That's a fancy ass title for satyrs." Mr. D explained drowsily.

"I'm amazed that he is still listening." Piper whispered to Jason.

**"What's Half-"**

"-Blood." Leo finished. He shrank backwards as Athena glared at him. "Sorry. Continue your reading."

**"Don't say it aloud ... my, um, summer address."**

"Nice save." Hestia nodded approvingly. 

**My heart sank ... never considered that his family might be as rich as the others at Yancy.**

Grover's mouth fell open in a 'o' of understanding as the satyr finally pieced together why Percy had reacted so harshly the first time around. Percy, catching his best friend's look, tilted his head in confirmation.

The others watched this exchange in confusion.

**"Okay ... like, if I want to come visit your mansion."**

"Not a mansion exactly..." Will murmured quietly, thinking about Camp.

**He nodded. "Or ... or if you need me." **

**"Why would I need you?" **

"Perseus!" Hera exclaimed, feeling slightly shocked. The satyr was his friend!

**It came out harsher than I meant it to. **

"It's okay, dude." Grover rubbed the demigod's shoulder comfortingly as Percy flinched, remembering his harsh words.

"Thanks, bro." The son of the Poseidon said gratefully.

Watching the two, something inside Hera melted slightly. It made her heart ache, but it was a good type of pain, filled with longing and fond memories. Her mask, the one that she had cultivated over centuries, cracked a tiny bit, and it scared her.

She was Hera, Queen of the Gods! She was supposed to be powerful! Infallible!

"First a mother, then a queen." Hestia's voice echoed in her head.

It had been advice that the older goddess had given her, all that centuries ago, before Hera's first child. She... she had not done a good job following it, and she knew it. She was supposed to be the goddess of families.

And what she saw in front of her, in that satyr and that Perseus boy?

They were family, plain and simple. Not bound by blood but still family. The glowing aura that tied the two together, criss-crossed by other shining strings of friendships, was intoxicating. It made her feel giddy and joyful and so many other things that she had forgotten about.

She shivered, storing away these sudden and slightly worrying thoughts. She would have to reflect on it later.

**Grover blushed. ** **"Look, Percy ... I kind of have to protect you."**

**I stared at him ... lost sleep worrying that he'd get beaten up next year without me.**

Grover's eyes widened. "Really?" He questioned, brown eyes lighting up hopefully as his bottom lip quavered. It was like looking at a puppy, all wide-eyed and innocent and trusting.... Percy squirmed slightly.

"Yeah..." He said quietly. "I was worried about you, man. You're my bro, remember?"

Somewhere in the background, Aphrodite cried from all the demigod-satyr feels.

**And here he was ... like he was the one who defended me.**

"I was." Grover admitted, still a little teary from the earlier scene. "You wouldn't believe how many monsters kept trying to eat Percy for lunch."

"Thank you." Percy said gratefully. He hadn't said it enough times before, but he was damn well gonna start now.

**"Grover ... what exactly are you protecting me from?" **

"Death." Nico answered flatly, and yelped as Will smacked him lightly on the head.

**There was a huge grinding noise beneath our feet.**

"Action," Ares crowed triumphantly. "Finally."

Aphrodite poked him sharply, a silent warning in her eyes telling him to keep quiet.

**Black smoke poured ... smell like rotten eggs.**

"Oh!" Percy gagged, frantically covering his nose. "Gross! I can smell it now."

Beside him, Grover was doing the same, his face pinched white and a sort of horrified-disgust evident on his features.

It probably didn't help that satyrs had a better sense of smells than demigods.

**The driver cursed and limped the Greyhound ...** **highway was nothing but maple trees and litter from** **passing cars.**

Demeter's face contorted into anger. She hated mortals and their disgusting little habit of contaminating everything around the. How dare they throw their filth around, uncaring of the dryads and nymphs who suffer!

She would have happily wiped them out right then and there. But Zeus wouldn't be too happy and he might probably end up destroying the Amazon forest just to spite her.

Pfftt, that idiot only 'cared' for mortals because he was too busy trying to fall into their beds!

**On the other side ... walnuts and apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub full of ice.**

"I'm suddenly really, really hungry." Leo said.

"Deal with it, punk." Ares growled, "Nobody cares!"

Hestia watched quietly as the boy flinched. Nobody else seemed to notice, but somehow, she figured that the others weren't doing it deliberately. More like, they were too dense to realise.

Shooting her nephew a nasty look that made him cower in fear, Hestia sighed, summoning a sandwich and an apple. Wordlessly, she passed the food to the boy. He took it gratefully, although she couldn't help noting the surprise on his face.

A small spark of anger ignited in her chest. Had no one ever done something nice for the boy? Even now, it was obvious that he was alone. The others were all grouped up in pairs of two or three, but the Valdez boy was clearly sitting separately from them.

Her heart ached for the boy and, shifting subtlety closer, Hestia promised herself that she would take care of this little one.

**There were no customers ... knitting the biggest pair of socks I'd ever seen. **

Poseidon inhaled sharply. The Fates! Even though he had known this earlier, a sudden, sharp panic rose through his heart and he gripped his trident tightly.

**I mean these socks were the size of sweaters ... enormous basket of electric-blue yarn. **

Even Athena was a tad bit pale. Seeing the Fates was practically a death-sentence. No demigod had ever survived an encounter with the Fates. And fact that this boy obviously did?

It frightened her.

**All three women looked ancient ... bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses.**

A somewhat hysterical sound between a snort and a choke escaped Athena's throat before the goddess could stop it. Feeling everyone's eyes on her, she quieted abruptly.

Clearing her throat, she said, "That was very descriptive, Perseus. I'm guessing that the Fates were not too happy with you."

It was not a question and they both knew it.

"No," Percy admitted. "After that, they sent me on a bunch of dangerous quest where I nearly died a lot. I could go on and on in a rant of why my life really sucks but hey, no spoilers, right?"

Athena nodded, drumming her fingers on the side of her throne thoughtfully.

"Well," the goddess sighed at last, "You did call their faces 'wrinkled like fruit leather'. That was not very flattering."

"And I wasn't trying to flatter them." Percy pointed out.

**The weirdest thing ... seemed to be looking right at me.**

Sweat rolled down the side of Poseidon's face as he swallowed back a whimper. Zeus looked like he was just about to blast something out of sheer boredom.

On the other side of the room, Hades was observing both of his brothers. Drama Queens, both of them, he thought in exasperation. If the kid died, then he _died_. That's all.

Hades would have a new soul in his domain, people would be sad then move on and life would continue its cycle.

Seriously. There was nothing more to it.

Obviously, the kid was still alive so why was Poseidon even freaking out?

**I looked over to Grover ... His nose was twitching.**

Percy reached over and laid a comforting hand on Grover's shoulder. The satyr immediately tilted his head into the touch, accepting the silent support.

**"Grover?" I said. "Hey, man-"**

**"Tell me they're not looking ... they are, aren't they?" **

Not me, Percy thought desperately, it was never me.

He _missed_ Luke. 

He missed the older boy so much that at times, it hurt.

His death had left a raw, festering wound that Percy still felt keenly at times. Luke had been the one to teach him how to fight, had been the one who spent countless hours under the evening sky showing Percy how to properly wield a sword. 

Luke had been the only person who really talked to him in Camp, back when he was alone and scared and terrified.

Luke had been the first person to care.

**"Yeah. Weird, huh? You think those socks would fit me?"**

No, he could never be like Luke.

He could never be as brave as Luke, could never measure up to him.  
  
**"Not funny, Percy. Not funny at all." **

**The old lady in the middle ... long-bladed, like shears.**

Athena's face drained of colour. It was one thing to see the Fates (bad omen as it were), but for them to snip the thread? 

The boy should be dead. _By all rights, he should be dead._

Why wasn't he dead?

**I heard Grover catch his breath. **

**"We're getting on the bus ... Come on."**

Okay, Apollo reassured himself, the satyr was smart. Taking the demigod away before they see the snipping of the thread could maybe give his new favourite cousin a chance of survival. 

What you can't see can't hurt you, right? 

**"What? ... It's a thousand degrees in there."**

Grover bit back a curse as he started sweating, damp moisture matting his curly brown hair and pouring down the back of his neck. 

Percy had no such reservations. He spat out a number of increasingly creative and colourful curses that, by the end of it, had everyone slack-jawed and staring.

"That was beautiful, Percy," Hades said in admiration, an awed expression clear on his face. "Nico, I like this one, you can keep him."

**"Come on!" **

**He pried open the door ... I stayed back. **

"No, no, no." Apollo groaned, burying his godly head in his hands. 

**Across the road ... old ladies were still watching me.**

"Stalkers." Mr D whispered loudly, "Creepy, crazy old-lady stalkers."

"Go home Dionysus," Hestia sighed, "You're drunk."

"I live here!" 

**The middle one cut the yarn,**

Poseidon whimpered, covering his eyes. 

** and I swear ... hear the snip across four lanes of traffic.**

Everyone flinched, hearing the distant echo of the snip of thread.

**Her two friends balled up the electric-blue socks ... Sasquatch or Godzilla. **

"Do they actually use the socks?" Piper asked curiously, "If everyone's fate is pre-written like that, then how many socks do the Fates have?"

"That's..." Athena's voice trailed off. 

"That's a good question. I don't actually know." The goddess said at last, as much as it pained her to admit.

**At the rear of the bus ... driver wrenched a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment.**

"Somebody is trying to stop you." Hermes said, shocked. "Somebody sabotaged the bus."

Hephaestus frowned thoughtfully. "Heated metal does not suddenly appear out of nowhere, especially not in the engine compartment. Somebody clearly put it there."

Percy met Grover's eyes grimly. Their exchange was entirely silent but both immediately realised that it had most likely been Luke. 

But for what reason?

**The bus shuddered ... passengers cheered. **

**"Darn right!" yelled the driver. "Everybody back on board!" **

**Once we got going ... started feeling feverish, as if I'd caught the flu.**

Percy's face, which had previously been a flushed red from the heat that only he and Grover could feel, abruptly turned sickly white. His breath came in quick, struggling wheezes, and his body started trembling.

Grover seemed to be in the same condition as the demigod. 

"He did something." Annabeth said, her voice coming out small and near tears, still unable to mention _his_ name. "He did something to hurt you and Grover."

"Some sort of curse." Athena concluded, glancing over at the two who were clearly feverish.

That was when, of course, Poseidon completely freaked out. 

"Apollo, do something!" He roared in panic, eyes still fixed on the somewhat limp body of his son.

The loud sound seemed to startle Apollo into action and he made his way hurriedly over to the two. He summoned several blankets and what looked like a thin, spongy covering of sorts. Annabeth and Thalia helped to roll the limp demigod and satyr onto the covering, piling blankets on top of them. 

Grasping both Grover's and Percy's hand, Apollo concentrated on his healing energy, but nothing happened. He looked up desperately.

"I can't do anything. It's not working."

The Sea God looked on the verge of a breakdown right there and then but before he could destroy something, Athena's clear voice rang out throughout the room, picking up the story from where she had left off.

**Grover didn't look much better ... was shivering and his teeth were chattering.**

If anything, this served to cause the satyr to turn even paler if that was possible and he started shivering more violently.

"What are you doing?" Poseidon exclaimed in horror. "Stop reading, you're making it worse!"

"I'm trying to save them," Athena retorted tersely. "By speeding it up. They survived it once, they can do so again!"

**"Grover?" **

**"Yeah?" **

**"What are you not telling me?"**

"A-a lo-lot of-f thi-things." Grover confessed, half-dazed.

"S'okay," Percy answered deliriously, reaching over and grasping the satyr's hand in his his own. "I-I tr-trust yo-you."

**He dabbed his forehead with his shirt sleeve. ** **"Percy, what did you see ... at the fruit stand?"**

Biting her lip in worry, Thalia brushed a stray curl of brown hair away from Grover's face tenderly. 

**"You mean the old ladies? ... not like Mrs. Dodds, are they?"**

"Worse." Jason murmured, sparing concerned glances towards his friends.

**His expression was hard to read ... I got the feeling that the fruit-stand ladies were something much, much worse than Mrs. Dodds.**

"Worse." Percy agreed, eyes still squeezed shut. "They wore bright pink to Hades's Annual Underworld Party."

Hades froze when everyone's eyes suddenly turned to him. Crap, they were not supposed to know about that. Okay, he could still salvage this-

"The boy is delirious." He snapped defensively, crossing his arms over his chest. "Why are you even listening to his half-crazed ramblings?"

**He said, "Just tell me what you saw." **

**"The middle one ... she cut the yarn." **

**He closed his eyes and made a gesture ... that might've been crossing himself, but it wasn't.**

Both Grover and Percy went so limp abruptly that, for a terrifying moment, everyone thought that they had died or something.

"Styx!" Apollo swore in horror, lurching forward. Annabeth's heart just about stopped when both demigod and satyr sat bolt upright suddenly, the blankets sliding off them.

"Oh, thank the gods," Percy sighed, relieved. "That's finally over."

"Never again." Grover agreed, his face returning to its normal colour.

The room breathed a sigh of relief and Annabeth and Thalia both pulled the two into a fierce hug.

"You idiot," Annabeth said, tears stinging her face. "Don't you dare do that again!"  
  
"Okay," Percy said, his voice coming out muffled against the cloth of her shirt. Privately, he thought that it would have been really depressing if he died right now. 

_Here lies Perseus Jackson, death by reading._

He would never live it down. 

Something occurred to him and Percy frowned. "That was way worse than the last time."

"Maybe the effects were amplified or something." Annabeth answered, looking worried because the implications were _terrifying_. With the amount of times that Percy had been hurt, he would definitely have a rough time ahead.

Not to mention, she had held the _sky_.

**It was ... something almost older.**

The boy was observant, Athena decided. 

She was still a little shaky from the earlier scene. She could only hope that the Fates weren't trying to kill the demigods or something because damn, that had been intense and angsty as hell.

**He said, "You saw ... snip the cord."**

Percy nodded in affirmative.

**"Yeah. So?" But even as I said ... knew it was a big deal.**

"Big deal?" Hermes said a little hysterically. "More like life-and-death!" 

**"This is not happening ... don't want this to be like the last time."**

Thalia closed her eyes, fighting furiously against the stinging sensation. Running down that hill to save her friends had been her choice. She _chose_ to give her life to protect them. She would never regret her choice, because it had meant that Annabeth and Grover and Luke would live but that still didn't stop the guilt from consuming her.

She had caused Luke to betray them. 

She had left Annabeth all alone.

And because of her, Grover had been struggling, unable to get over her 'death'.

**"What last time?" **

**"Always sixth grade ... never get past sixth." **

Zeus flinched, unable to look anyone in the eye. 

Hades felt a small stirring of guilt for having sent that horde that ended up killing the eldest Grace child. Perhaps he had reacted too harshly...

**"Grover ... what are you talking about?" **

**"Let me walk you home ... Promise me."**

"Sorry." Percy whispered. "I should have listened."

Grover squeezed his hand, forgiveness clear in his eyes.

**This seemed like a strange request ... but I promised he could. **

_"Thank the gods that you didn't swear on the River Styx."_ Grover said pointedly through the empath bond.

Percy nodded fervently. _"Amen to that, brother."_

**"Is this like ... superstition or something?" I asked.**

"More like, _reality_." Apollo said.

**No answer. **

**"Grover, that snipping of the yarn ... mean somebody is going to die?"**

Percy winced. He had been correct in his assumption that somebody was going to die. Just that, it hadn't been him.

**He looked at me mournfully ... the kind of flowers I'd like best on my coffin.**

"You," Grover said, shaking his head, "Are scarily perceptive at times."

"Aw, thank you." Percy grinned back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you @horus1251 for your advice
> 
> I know that it's sort of irritating to read the reactions without the full text (personal experience), so I also posted this on Wattpad. It's under the same series name - Movie Remedy for The Weary.
> 
> https://www.wattpad.com/story/200164556-movie-remedy-for-the-weary-percy-jackson

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [READING PERCY JACKSON](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22272166) by [kitten_honor](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitten_honor/pseuds/kitten_honor)


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